Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
By Padraig O’Hannelly. Readers of Iraq Business News will already know Baroness (Emma) Nicholson of Winterbourne (pictured) as the UK’s Trade Envoy to Iraq, and as Chairman of the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC). We met with her recently to discuss the work of her charity, the AMAR International Charitable Foundation, which is facing new […]
By John Lee. Nechirvan Barzani (pictured), Iraqi Kurdistan's Prime Minister, has denied reports that Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) will open an office in Erbil. Kurdish MP, Dilshad Sha’ban, has also told BasNews: “After we heard reports of SOMO wants to open office in Kurdistan region, we followed on the report, and we found […]
By John Lee. Petrofac has secured a second contract extension from South Oil Company (SOC) for support on its Iraq Crude Oil Expansion Project. The 12-month extension, worth around US$106 million, comes into effect in December and brings the total value of the contract to more than US$300 million since it was first awarded in […]
By John Lee. Oryx Petroleum has announced an appraisal drilling update for the Demir Dagh field in the Hawler license area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including test results for the Demir Dagh-7 and Demir Dagh-8 appraisal wells (“DD-7” and “DD-8”, respectively). Oryx Petroleum is the operator and has a 65% participating and working […]
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) gained another 19 percent on Thursday morning, following approval of its Field Development Plan (FDP) for Akri-Bijeel, in which it holds a 20 percent working interest. The FDP is based on these two discovery areas, i.e. Bijell area and the Bakrman area. The development will be done […]
By John Lee. Shares in oil explorer Afren fell by more than 5 percent on Thursday morning as the company's output failed to meet expectations due to installation delays, repair work and adverse weather. In its Interim Management Statement, the company gave the following update on its operations in Iraq: "On 2 October 2014, Afren […]
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) closed 14 percent higher on Wednesday following the company's announcement that it is to reschedule its Interim Management Statement. The shares had been up as much as 30 percent in the afternoon, on expectations of positive news to follow. The company statement said: "As a result […]
By John Lee. A new report from the International Monetary Fund says that Iraq's economy is expected to shrink by 2.7 percent this year as a result of the security crisis in the country. This follows a 4.2 percent growth in GDP in 2013 and 10.3 percent the previous year, and would be the first […]
Throughout August 2014, Iraq Business News polled readers for their opinions on the state of Iraq. As expected, the results indicate a more challenging environment in the country over the preceding year. But while the sample size and methodology do not allow us to claim statistical significance, the results tend to show a long-term commitment […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that oil exports from Iraq's southern terminals are "close to a record high" in October. Kurdish shipments are also reported to be increasing, despite the continuing unrest in the country. Exports from the southern terminals have averaged 2.55 million bpd for the first 23 days of October, slightly up from […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. The Dubai-based division of the Russian oil company, Lukoil announced revise production figures for the West Qurna-2 fields. The company began production in March 2014 with an output of approximately 120,000 barrels of oil per day. Current production levels are now at 300,000 barrels of oil per day. It is expected […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi cabinet has approved a drilling deal with Halliburton value at $278.5 million (324 billion Iraqi dinars). Reuters reports that under the 30-month contract, Halliburton will drill 30 oil wells in the 8.7-billion-barrel West Qurna-I field, operated by U.S. major ExxonMobil. Production at the field is currently running at around 360,000 bpd […]
